San Jose Giants

Getting fans to an A-level Minor League Baseball game, in a market with two Major League franchises, is about as easy as hitting an Aroldis Chapman fast ball. With your eyes closed. But by humorously pointing out the differences between the Bigs and the Bus Leagues — like salaries, work ethic, agents, and the always entertaining police blotter — we figured the California League’s San Jose Giants had a very persuasive case to make: that Minor League baseball is still just a game, not a business.

These poster ads — a few in the series — were part of a larger integrated communication program showcasing this idea, and were produced on a Mendoza line budget. Some, like “Knuckleballs,” were targeted toward specific audiences or, in the case of “Giants Baseball,” took advantage of the Silicon Valley location and the dot com crash underway at the time.